Are We Too Sophisticated for Weekly Communion?

Are we too sophisticated for weekly communion?  By "sophisticated", I mean, are we fully committed to casting aside the overwhelming tradition of the Church-through-the-ages in favor of our own higher thinking, our own clever reasoning?  A reasoning that asserts, "If we take communion every week, it will become cheap, ordinary, mundane, and meaningless. 

Is our sophisticated reasoning really a better way to go?  Is such sophistication honestly to be preferred over having an attitude of humility that acknowledges something may be wrong in us ? That our own fallen, sinful, selfish heart may be getting in the way and messing-up our ability to commune with Christ through the elements of bread and wine no matter how frequent that might be?  Is is possible that our own sophistication and clever reasoning is keeping us from pondering this matter at a deeper level, and in a way that would compel us to take communion as often as possible without lessening its mystery or power?

Now, before you "we-take-communion-once-a-month" folks lay into me, let me say up front that I've come to a place in my journey where I see the oft-cited "cheapening" rationale behind the taking of monthly communion as a straw-man defense -- an accommodation to our human weakness rather than an appeal to either the scriptures or the historical consensus of the church-through-history, and therefore more shameful than defendable or honorable.

If you attend a church whose tradition is to only take Communion occasionally, I am certainly not encouraging any sort of dissonance or rebellion.  Rather, I am opening the door for thoughtful contemplation and dialog.

In my own tradition, John Wesley encouraged that Holy Communion be taken as often as possible.  Since the Eucharist is a sacrament and a "means of grace", why would I ever want to receive it less frequently?

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Photo credit: © Andrew Penner, iStockphoto.com

Comments

[ron]

Chris in my mind we cheapened it " by only doing it once a week." I wonder in the upper room if this was something Jesus really wanted to ritualize. I wonder if this wasn't another " transfiguration " moment.Like on the mountain, the disciples wanted to freeze the moment in time, pitch a tent over it so they could keep coming back to. I believe the last supper/ Lord's Supper/ Eucharist...is beyond our imaginations. It is not static...it's living and eternal.
Jesus took to of the most common things in the life of his friends, the most common things in their daily life. Bread and Wine...this would have been apart of every meal.The underlying truth...in Jesus hands all of life, everymoment...is Grace. Jesus broke the bread, revealing the brokeness of humanity/creation...in which His body would be broken for. And, into the brokeness of humanity/creation is blood would be poured into. The new covenant is the mysterious divine power...that creation and relationship is restored...with God, with humanity and with creation. But he calls us to be partners, co-creators of the new covenant...in the building of the new creation.
I don't believe for a minute that Jesus meant for this to be liscenced...it is about Grace. We have the authority, His, to make this apart of everyday life. the more it becomes apart of everday life, the more it changes us to live the new covenant...that changes cheap, to extravagant.

[Larry]

I'm in a tradtion that is the "once every quarter" style. I have gradually moved to "once every three weeks" mode. If it was my preference, I would have communion every Sunday. If you look at Luke 24:35 "Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread." The breaking of bread, combined with the Word, is how Jesus makes himself known to us. His revelation of his divinity is given through these two means of grace.
One thing that has made communion more meaningful in our services is receiving via intinction. Just some thoughts.

[Carl Holmes]

"If we do it weekly, it will cheapen it" Hogwash. Those who say that are just afraid of the introspection and communication God might have for them in the midst of doing communion.

I was raised Baptist, we did it once a year at Easter. I moved to a church that did it every 5th Sunday of the month, then one that did it monthly, and now one that does it weekly. I love it. (as much as one loves getting hit in the head with a hammer sometimes) But the growth is welcome and needed.

[michelle]

Carl,

I love it. (as much as one loves getting hit in the head with a hammer sometimes) But the growth is welcome and needed.

I can't agree with you more. The growth is welcomed and needed. There are some weeks that I take Communion daily. It is good to examine our hearts regularly.

[Charlie]

I wonder if part of our problem is that in many Ev. churches the manner in which we observe is so individualistic and hurried. Stay seated, quickly pass the elements, drink, eat, pass the cups to the side aisle, let's move on. I have found this to be rather distracting to the goal of memorializing the Lord's death in any kind of quiet, contemplative manner.

[Carl Nystedt]

We just started having communion every week at my church instead of once a month. As of right now I am mostly indifferent about the change and I say that with complete respect. Perhaps this change in action will bring a change in mind for me. We'll see. I figure, why not have it more? only good can come from it.

[lynn]

On weekly communion,
Those who really hunger and thirst for a right relationship with God will hunger and thirst for weekly or even daily communion with him, and those who really don't want to examine theirselves and their relationship with God won't want weekly or even monthly communion. It's simple where do you stand with God?

[unorthodoxology]

For me, moving to a tradition that celebrates the Eucharist every week has given me the freedom to see multiple meanings in the feast of Jesus. At a time, it was solely sacrificial. Then, it was communal. The, it was celebratory. Then, it was meaningless. Then it was communal.

I think the meaninglessness of it can become part of the richness of the faith. Continuing to follow the path not because it feels a certain way but simply because that is where the path leads.

[unorthodoxology]

For me, moving to a tradition that celebrates the Eucharist every week has given me the freedom to see multiple meanings in the feast of Jesus. At a time, it was solely sacrificial. Then, it was communal. The, it was celebratory. Then, it was meaningless. Then it was communal.

I think the meaninglessness of it can become part of the richness of the faith. Continuing to follow the path not because it feels a certain way but simply because that is where the path leads.

[Mark]

Communion, or Eucharist as some call it is important for the believer to partake in at every opportunity. Who doesn't want to encounter Christ often?

I believe that it shouldn't matter to a Christian how often they partake, as long as they are doing it in rememberance of the Lord, his death, resurrection and his coming again.

And although that's not all it is, communion is an opportunity to testify and prophecy to the congregation: "I am a sinner saved by the Grace of God through faith in Jesus. He died to bring justice because of the sins I have committed. He rose from the dead so that I could have new life. And he will come again so that I can spend eternity with Him."

(That's a very simplistic way of looking at it -- I know there are deeper issues and more meanings with the sacrement or ordainance of communion).

In light of the above, if you were to ask my wife and I if we are happy in our marriage, we would tell you, "Yes, we are _very_happy_!" That would be a testimony to what our relationship is like, including the most intimate aspects of our marriage relationship.

But suppose I said, "Sex with my wife is really too special to have on a regular basis because it's special and I don't want to cheapen the experience by doing it too often."

... I don't think I would have a very healthy relationship with my wife if I said that. So too, with communion, it is a consummating thing that we partake often, and something that helps to nurture our relationship with God. Sex helps make a marriage relationship better and so God has made communion to be something that helps make us closer to him. As scripture says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." In the context of communion, one is drawing near to God by remembering Jesus through eating and drinking the paschal supper. And God will draw near to us too when we make steps toward Him.

It is interesting what the word "intercourse" means in English. When looked up on www.dictionary.com I discovered that the primary meaning is "dealings/communication between individuals". It is only the secondary meaning of the word that has to do with sexuality. But I would suggest that the connotation of both be a form of intimacy between parties involved.

Thus, I can say that taking communion is an intimate experience or encounter with the Living God, in Spirit and in Truth. And as the Psalmist longed for this encounter with God, "As the deer pants for water, so my soul thirsts for you, O God," and "I will dwell in God's house forever."

So if communion is like this, and if God desires us to be in relationship with Him, then who cares about how often we partake of the bread and wine, as long as it is, indeed, often? And as long as we remember that Christ died, Christ is risen, and that Christ will come again, then what does it matter that we take communion more often?

The fact is, when we take communion often, we can state that "we are very happy" in our relationship with God, despite other imperfections on our part. It's our testimony. And the only think I can think of as to why taking communion more often would cheapen our relationship with God, or the special act of taking communion itself is that Satan wants to deceive us. Satan has come to "steal, kill and destroy," but Jesus has come to us that we might have "life -- and life to the fullest."

So, let's enjoy our life with Jesus and partake in communion often.

[Chris Monroe]

Mark,

Although it has virtually taken me an eternity to respond to your post, I wanted you to know how deeply I resonated with your thoughts here. Many consider Holy Communion one of the most intimate encounters with Christ that we are capable of having this side of eternity. Such a notion (and believe it to be true) seems to stand in solidarity with your comparisons to marital intercourse. The way you framed the "it's too special to do too often" was excellent.

If, therefore, weekly communion (or even more frequently if feasible) holds such promise for we believers, and since we must be careful to view Holy Communion within the context of community rather than merely an individualistic exercise, then perhaps the growing trend among believers to only attend worship services once every 4-6 weeks needs to be seriously reconsidered.

Blessings,

Chris

[Br. Theoplius]

I serve Holy Communion every Sunday in Divine Worship. I assure you it is always with the utmost of reverance. On my part it is in awe, and fear and trembling at the very thought of it's meaning and significance.

[Carl Holmes]

We are looking forward to hearing a new post sometime, got anything in the hopper?